Casualties of The Past
by MyNameWasPepino
Summary: The events of the Night Howlers incident have brought to light a subject many had chosen to avoid for too long… And even though things have stayed calm for a couple months the same deep division is still there, waiting to be healed or to explode. With the arrest of the mayor, the citizens have now placed their eyes in the heroes of the moment, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde.
1. A Night's Work

It was a bitter night illuminated by the lights of a sleeping metropolis. Nick didn't mind working the night shift, or at least that was what he told himself while he took a sip of coffee from the disposable cup he had on hand. Having a hot beverage was a pleasant thing, especially in the cold nights. Even though that wasn't the source of warmth he wanted at the time, he'd have to settle for an obtainable thing.

 _ **"Stop daydreaming."**_ The Fox demanded to himself. Of course, he knew he wouldn't be able to follow that simple command, but he would try his best. Even if his best only got him three minutes of tranquility.

"Why did you offer yourself to do the night shift," asked the fox, with an annoyed tone.

They were doing foot patrol in the Downtown area. Following a predetermined route with occasional deviations to grab a coffee. This was their third dose of caffeine that night.

"Already told you," responded the bunny with a similar inflection than his partner's. Judy did little to hide the fact she was tired.

"Did you?" Added the fox, with an oblivious tone. He did remember why she had taken the night patrol, he just wanted to see how sloppy his colleague was.

After a long pause, Judy responded with an angry tone, "I'm not going to explain it again."

"I didn't know that the legendary 'Judith Hopps, savior of Zootopia'," the fox gestured with a paw like if he was picturing the invented title into the air while speaking with his sarcastic tone. "Got angry when she missed her nap."

He didn't see it coming, but the jab to his left arm gave him a little more than discomfort. The fox put his right paw over the aching area of his arm.

"Someone's cranky," Nich said, trying to get back to his partner.

They stayed quiet for a while. The Fox used that time to consider the reason why she offered herself to take the night shift. When they started to work together, Judy had several misconceptions about foxes. She believed that he would prefer the night patrols, she had a point, foxes were nocturnal mammals after all. But, Nick had adapted to working- if what he did before meeting the rabbit could be called work- in the day as most nocturnal mammals had.

The true reason why she had been taking the night shifts was her neighbors, who were being more obnoxious than usual, barely allowing her to sleep. Nick had been forced to listen to every complaint his partner had about her two loud neighbors.  
He wasn't surprised by the fact that she couldn't sleep with all the noise coming from the flat adjacent to her own. What really amazed him was that she was still living in a shoebox apartment.

"She could at least move to a shared apartment… I wouldn't mind sharing" He realized that he was, once again, fantasizing about a future he would not have.

"You should move to a proper apartment," the fox decided to break the silence. He made sure not to add any suggestion about sharing in that sentence.

"It's not easy to find an affordable place in the city," she responded, dismissing the suggestion. "I don't really need a different place, just new neighbors."

"I know you bunnies like tight quarters, but you could get something a little bigger" He added. She gave him an offended look in response to his spiciest comment. However, he didn't turn to meet her violet eyes. "At least share with someone."

The realization of what he had just suggested came a little too late. They had come to a stop, waiting for a truck to pass before they could cross the street. Maybe it was only his imagination, but the atmosphere had gotten a bit denser, and the night a little more heated. The only wish he had now, was for her to dismiss what he had just said as just another joke.

She didn't…

"Huh?" She questioned, showing a noticeable smirk in her muzzle. Suddenly she had recovered her normal energy and was now looking at the fox's eyes, or she would have been if it weren't for the fact that he was still wearing sunglasses. Hadn't been wearing them, she would have seen the now dilated green eyes of the Fox. "Was that a suggestion?"

" _ **God, from all the things I said tonight, why did she choose to hold my feet to the fire for this one."**_

"Well, of course, it was," he responded, doing his best to keep his cool.

"And with whom do you suggest I share?" She asked with the disingenuous tone and innocent grin he knew so well.

A simple and instinctive part of his mind wanted to suggest living together. Nick did his best to silence it. He preferred to think it was the rational thing to do, that there was no chance of his desire being mutual.

He wasn't afraid of not being able to live with her. They spent most of their time together. They worked together and ate together, they were more than co-workers or friends, they were partners, and he doubted that spending an extra eight hours alongside each other would be a problem. What he was afraid of was the agony he would have to suffer each day. Not being able to confess to her, despite his desire to.

His scramble to get something out of his muzzle was interrupted when they heard a high-pitched feminine cry, sending a chill down their spines. Both turned their ears in the direction of the scream. It was coming from an alley just behind them, one they had just passed by.

Without hesitation, they started running in that direction.

The alleyway was between a bakery and a four-floor apartment building. When they got to the entranced of the alley, they laid their backs against the larger building for a second. Just enough for them to take out their tranq-guns and light their lanterns. He took off his sunglasses and let them fall to the grass.

The rabbit was the closest to the alley. Without any further delays, she shifted her position, letting her right shoulder be supported by the wall before turning the corner, leaving her cover and going into the dark alley. He quickly followed.

The alleyway would have been consumed by the darkness if it wasn't for the dim, gentle lights coming from their lanterns, as they explored the backstreet. Nick detected movement in the left wall and pointed his light in that direction. What he saw made his heart beat a little faster and his pupils dilate a bit wider. Just beside a dumpster, there was a figure. It was facing the other side of the alley and was moving quietly in that direction. He could only see a brown coat and a black hat.

"ZPD, stop!" He shouted. His partner was also focusing on the same figure.

He didn't turn, nor did he stop. He lifted his right arm and dropped a small black cylinder, the object hit the asphalt of the alley making a click sound. And before any of them could react a blinding light illuminated the dark alley for a brief second, followed by a deafening high-pitched bang.

Nick lost control of his legs and fell to the ground. The constant acute sound tearing his eardrum apart was the least of his problems. He could see nothing but a blazing light and feel nothing but a dizziness in his gut. He covered his eyes with his paws in a desperate attempt to put an end to the maddening light.

His partner was in no better shape than him…

* * *

She could now see, but the exasperating cacophony had no stop. In desperation, she had folded her ears trying to protect her inner ear from the sound. If she had been able to process anything, she would have seen the suspect fleeing the scene.

Almost instinctively, as soon as she recovered some sense of location, she made the effort to lift her head and see her partner. Her vision was still impaired, but she could see him, crouching, with his knees on the floor, doing what he could to cover his eyes. She wanted to get near him, she wanted to embrace him, to clinch some security in a desperate situation. But, she was too disoriented to move.

What were mere seconds seemed like minutes of extreme disorientation and weakness to them. But in time, they recovered just enough to get back on their feet.

"Carrots?" Finally inquired the fox with weakened voice.

"I'm… here," the bunny responded after a couple of seconds trying to decipher his voice "I'm all right. I think."

They scanned the alley with their recovering eyes in search of the mammal who assaulted them. Nick locked his lantern in a small figure.

"Contact dispatch," he ordered while approaching the motionless Koala resting by the dumpster "Tell them we have a dead Koala and a dangerous mammal in the streets."

She didn't respond. The sudden pain she felt in her belly impeded her from doing nothing but to look down at the fragment lodged in her body…

* * *

After checking the pulse of the female Koala calmly resting against the dumpster, Nick turned his head to meet his partner's silhouette.

"Carrots, It's no time for-" the words coming out of his muzzle were silenced at the sight of blood. He stood up from his kneeling position and rushed to stand with his injured partner.

"ZPD 2187, I have a 10-33 on Little Herd Street. Koala with no pulse. Officer Hopps is  
injured." Informed the Fox by radio while examining his partner's wound.

"Copy. 10-61"

"Beware, armed suspect last seen heading to Lone Street"

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The Next one should be up in a couple of days. I'm looking for Beta testers to help me improve my writing in the following chapters, if you're interested send me a PM or an email at myusarnameispepino


	2. The Price of Envy

p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The alley was crowded now. What once could have been the darkest place in Zootopia was now glistening with dozens of lights, coming from lanterns and squad cars, the deadly silence replaced by chaotic chatter. Nick was in front of the bakery standing at the side of an ambulance. His faced painted by the flashing red and blue coming from all the different emergency vehicles./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" He had his worried eyes centered on Judy, who was being attended by a paramedic./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" "You worried, Slick?" She asked with all the wit a wounded mammal could muster./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" Their eyes meet, exchanging concerned glances, doing what they could to keep the façade, trying to ignore the fact that they had just been attacked by a well-equipped criminal, who could have murdered them had he chosen to./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" "Dumb bunny," responded the fox, trying to keep his sarcastic tone, "I just want to make sure you don't get all comfy while I'm doing the arduous work."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" "Don't worry, I won't," a faint and short-lived smile formed in the rabbit's muzzle, a picture that was meant to be reassuring was anything but calming. She diverted her gaze from his, she couldn't look him in the eyes without feeling a total and overwhelming sense of failure. /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The last thing he told her was a simple and painful 'Get better'. Her wound didn't seem severe but, the paramedic wanted to run some scans to be sure. She objected of course, but Nick convinced her to spend at least the rest of the night in bed./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" As he walked away, he looked back for the last time to see a red dot fading into the night. He was determined to catch whoever was under the brown coat and black hat. He wasn't sure if his resilient will was fueled by his desire to bring justice to the dead or achieve vengeance./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongem"He's going to regret messing with us," /em/stronghe thought, continuing his path to the alley./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The fox was standing in front of the lifeless body of the young Koala. There were no injuries, not even a drop of blood, her face was awkwardly relaxed and the only peculiar thing he could sense was a bitter scent of fear. He had never seen a dead body up close before. He tried to detach himself from the uneasy feeling and carry out his investigation, as they were told to do in the academy./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" With great care and respect, the fox took the discreet black purse the mammal retained in her hand, with caution he proceeded to open it. There were a few possessions inside the small handbag, what the fox estimated were about forty-five dollars, a picture where the victim stood with other two older Koalas, a set of keys and a DMV driving license./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The fox focused on the picture for a second, he took it out of the purse and contemplated it for a while, comparing the young female to the one in the photo./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongem"She was too young," /em/stronghe lamented as a glimpse of pity made its way in his overwhelmed mind before leaving the family picture where he found it./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" He proceeded to take the DMV card with lofty expectations. Besides a picture of the victim where her dark snout and light round ears stood out Nick found the information he sought. Her name was Diana Phascal./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The fox reached for his ZPD notepad and a pen. He wrote down all the relevant information he had uncovered and grabbed the set of keys before leaving the young mammal to rest in peace. As he walked away from the dreadful scene, Nick could feel the eyes of all the other officers on him. However, he didn't pay any attention to the inquiring looks./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong"I need to get back to the station and-," /strongand it was only when he had finally left the grim alley to get back into the city streets the harsh realization hit him. Letting out a quiet groan in annoyance at the realization that he wasn't in the case. He knew that he wasn't supposed to intervene until some were assigned. But, he also knew that the only way to catch this methodical killer was to start as soon as possible. He wasn't going to let this case become a mere story with no end. A simple morning news to be lost in time as a whisper in the crowd./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What are you doing, Fox?" A deep masculine voice asked from behind. Nick turned to see Officer Delgato approaching, looking down to the fox with a dismissive gaze in his amber eyes. /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Ah, Delgato my second favorite lion," Nick went back to his hustler façade with little effort, letting a small smirk appear on his muzzle he looked up to his fellow officer, "I was just looking for my sunglasses, in the heat of the moment I forgot where I left them."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The lion didn't bite into his deception Nick determined as the lion rolled his eyes in annoyance./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I bet you know what I'm talking about," suggested the fox with a friendly smirk as he gave the lion that was twice his size a friendly punch./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You shouldn't be here," said Delgato, unamused by the fox actions "get back with your partner or go back to your cave."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" A rise of anger rushed through the fox's body filling his insides with tremendous heat. Perhaps it was his desire to get the vicious criminal or his experience with speciesism that allowed him to keep his cool and not punch the cocky feline./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You're right, better leave the demanding work to the smart cops," the fox concluded with a paused and defeated tone accompanied by a sad smirk. The lion grinned widely and proudly as he kept his condescending posture. And a prominent smile was displayed in the fox's muzzle as he turned and left the entrance to the alley, walking away from the arrogant mammal./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong"What a waste of a uniform," /strongthought the fox delighting in his victory while spinning the stolen keys he had taken from the predator's belt. He waited until the lion finally went back to his post before approaching the police cruiser parked the farthest away from the alley./p  
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" There are six basic questions that must be answered in every crime…/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongWhat happened?/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongWhy did that happen?/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongWhere did it take place?/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongWhen did it take place?/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongWho was involved?/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strongHow did it happen?/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong /strongNick only knew the Where and the When, and his quest to clear the remaining unknowns lead him to a shady looking apartment building on the outskirts of Savana Central. The fox left the squad car in front of the building. The frigid air was a welcome change from the fried food and feline scent that saturated the cruiser./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" He hadn't noticed the rising sun emerging from the horizon till the warm light gently touched his fur. However, he didn't waste time contemplating the dawn. Nick walked to the front doors and, after claiming the front steps, took out the keys he had found in the victim's purse and started trying each key, till the third one did the trick./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong"It's always the third."/strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" He placed his left paw on the knob and rested his right paw over the tranq-gun, before opening the door. The interior of the building wasn't a welcoming sight. Nick was familiar with this kind of apartments, a cheap place to sleep in during harsh times, he had frequented many places of the style during his life./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" Nick climbed the stairs, with his tranquilizer gun drawn. The Koala lived in apartment 4D on the fourth floor, according to her DMV card. He saw a barely open door and rightfully assumed that was the victim's quarters./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong /strongHe laid his back against the wall and silently approached the half-opened door. His gun pointed at the small gap, his fingers on the trigger and ready to shoot. Each step he took raised the tension running throughout his body; each step leading him closer to danger; each step carefully placed, step by step, inch by inch he got near the door; close enough to sense the smell of microwaved food. Nick placed his left paw in the door, preparing himself to enter, ready to face a murderer, ready to either kill or be killed. But just before he could open the door, he heard an alarming sound…/p  
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" She knew what her partner was doing, and she wasn't disappointed. Was she concerned? Being concern would be an understatement. The uncertainty of not knowing the location of her partner, the person she had been working with for a year and come to appreciate in more ways than one, was unbearable./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" She sat on the hospital bed she had spent all the night in and reached for her phone. She unlocked her iCarrot and called the number at the top of her contact list./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emstrong…/strong/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emstrong…/strong/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emstrong…/strong/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emstrongRejected/strong/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The bunny hopelessly looked at the phone's screen for a second. A deep sense of worry took hold of her mind, followed by fear. Her eyes widened a bit, her heart rate increasing as she contemplated the reasons he would hang up on her. None of them seemed good. She sent her partner a message./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"Bogo knows you took Delgato's cruiser. He wants us in his office ASAP."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" Judith Hopps wasn't the kind of mammal to hide in fear, and she had already failed too much in so little time. She stood up and looked for her uniform. Her fear replaced with determination as she started to gear up to get back to the streets and to her partner./p  
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The vibration accompanied by his phone's ringtone echoing through the corridor had definitely ruined any chance of surprising the criminal inside the apartment. He took his phone out of his right pocket and hugged the call in haste. His neck fur hackling up as a result of the distressing sound./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong"Well, there goes the element of surprise," /strongthe fox realized./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" In the movies entering a hostile place with possible enemies was almost always depicted as a slow and perfectly orchestrated moment. The reality was much less romantic. Nick kicked the door open and before entering he gave the same warning every officer was forced to give./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""ZPD" were the only words spoken before he entered the apartment. He was fiercely scanning the room in search for any sign of hostiles. To his relief, no one was there. The lack of hostiles didn't mean he was safe, the smell of microwaved vegan food and gum was almost as hostile to his nose than any criminal./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" The flat was a one room apartment with a cheap bed, a small dining table and what could barely be called a kitchen. The fox directed his attention to the bed and approached it while holstering his gun. Once his nose had adjusted to the smell of leaves he could sense a different scent, the one of Koala and not just the scent of a female, but also the one of a male. His suspicions were confirmed by a quick examination of the clothes at the side of the bed. Besides the expected items of clothing for a twenty-two-year-old female, there were a couple of sets of clothing for an older male./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong"A crime of passion," /strongconcluded the fox. His phone vibrated again, this time he decided to check it. Nick was shocked to see the time, 10:23 AM./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"He had a message from his partner./p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"Bogo knows you took Delgato's cruiser. He wants us in his office ASAP."/em/p 


	3. Automated Courage

Nick's hopes of finding useful information in the victim's apartment weren't misplaced; he had uncovered a lot. He even had taken an extra ten minutes to inspect the apartment before leaving the residence to go and face his chief's wrath.

" **The most productive ten minutes of my career,"** the fox allowed a bit of self-pride to accompany the thought.

At the front of the low-class apartment complex, Nick's temporal cruiser had been joined by another squad car. The users of this new car, Officers Wolfard and Fangmeyer displayed widely opened muzzles at the sight of the fox, they were shocked to see the smaller predator leaving the building. Nick had his sunglasses on and a satisfied grin in his muzzle. Their eyes were set on him as he walked slowly and with confidence to his borrowed vehicle. The only inquire made by the startled officers came out of Fangmeyer muzzle.

"That's Delgato's cruiser," stated the tigress in disbelief.

"I know," Nick responded without turning to meet the startled eyes fixated on him.

An exquisite primal pleasure grew in the fox's heart as he left behind the larger mammals; a feeling of victory and gratification fueled by his quick progression with the investigation and his triumph over the more experienced and pretentious officers. It was something he wanted to get used to; a reminder of his past life as a low-level hustler, and the excitement of always being one step ahead of everyone else.

He forced himself to return to the real world for a moment, just to respond to someone that had been waiting for a bit too long.

" _On my way to HQ, I'll let you know what I found there."_

* * *

 _ **What did he find?**_

 _ **Where did he find it?**_

 _ **Where is he?**_

His message had left her with many questions and no answers. She hadn't entered the station, not yet at least. She had to wait for her partner, and waiting was the only thing Judy Hopps couldn't do.

Judy was standing next to the exit of the parking lot, just before the stairs that led to the main entrance, she was tapping her left leg; giving small and quick hops, a tic created by the increasing nerves. Her mind wandered hopelessly, trying to solve the unknowns, as her eyes desperately tried to locate her partner in the crowd.

"Carrots, if you step a little harder, I fear you may make a hole in the ground," a familiar voice joked from behind. She turned to meet the only person that would call her Carrots. He seemed so unaffected by the events of the night, with his aviator sunglasses on and his always present cocky smile.

"You're late!" The bunny pointed out with a voice that similar to her mother's.

"Uh… someone still hasn't taken her nap," the fox responded as he started walking towards the building's entrance. "Let's go, the chief doesn't like waiting."

She swallowed her anger for a moment and followed her partner. She was deciding what question to ask first.

"What did you find?"

"I see detective toot toot is ready to get back to work," the joke fell on deaf ears. "The victim's name is Diana Phascal as I found out in her DMV from where I also got her address. She lives in a cheap apartment, quite similar to yours actually," his narration was interrupted by the second punch to his left arm of the day. He ignored the aggression this time, "she's a college student and an intern in the college's lab."

"That's all? We could have gotten all that info from a quick background check," she questioned as they passed by the reception desk; Clawhauser hadn't arrived yet.

"The most interesting thing," he continued like if no interruption had been made at all, "she only eats microwaved leafs!"

He turned his head slightly, just enough for her to see a sly smile on his muzzle. "And she has a lover."

Her ears raised, alerted by the new piece of information, "You could have started with that."

Before she could inquire anything else, they saw chief Bogo leaning on the railing, peeking from the third floor with his eyes fixated on them. She knew what was coming. But, expecting to hear his deep and enraged voice calling out their names didn't make it less frightening.

"Usually, when an officer survives an injury in the line of duty it's a motive of celebration," the brown eyes of the buffalo tightly focused in the defiant duo. "But you two managed to make it a big mess."

" **We** _ **are**_ **good at making messes,"** the bunny thought.

Nick and Judy were sitting in the same oversized chair. Judy concluded that it was a psychological trick; to force small mammals to sit in large chairs, just to make them feel smaller and defenseless in front of the scariest mammal of the force.

"You can't possibly blame us for what happened, "Nick dared to interrupt the chief's monologue.

"Insubordination, stealing from a fellow officer, manipulation of evidence," Bogo continued his scolding, his face approaching the fox in a threatening manner. Judy would have sworn that if a single bit of defiance had escaped from Nick's muzzle their time on the force would be over, "you're responsible for every single one of those things."

Perhaps it was the emotion of the moment, or maybe her usual overconfidence that convinced her to speak up for her partner, and to follow the same ambition that led her to become the first PD officer of her kind. She tried to gather as much strength and determination as she could, before beginning her counter argument.

" _What did you expect him to do?"_

Her voice stronger than she had imagined, accompanied by forthright words, as she had hoped. Both males turned in surprise to see the confident bunny standing on the chair.

" **Don't screw up now."**

"You didn't really think that we would let a murderer get away, didn't you?" Her accusatory purple eyes were joined by a sly smile as she climbed the desk. "I don't even think you're mad at us. You're just proving us."

Each of her claims accompanied by an accusatory finger. Bogo hadn't exploded in a senseless wrath as a part of her expected; he just looked at the smaller mammal with judgmental eyes.

"That's why not a single officer stopped Nick-… Officer Wilde from examining the evidence; why you waited four hours to call us back here," she got even closer to the buffalo, looking at him with a sincere and earnest stare, "and why you still haven't assigned someone to the case."

Stoic brown eyes stared down at her. After the excitement wore off, she was left with a cold and uneasy feeling running through her mind. She forced her ears to stay upright, she tried to keep a confident position as she faced something more terrifying than a thousand murderers.

Boggo gradually moved his head closer to her, until he was close enough that Judy could feel his breath against her fur. "Do you really believe I would let a case of this magnitude in some rookies' paws?"

His usual callous and bitter tone was replaced by an aggrieved one. He walked away from the smaller mammals and went to the locker where he stored all the important files. He opened the upper compartment and quickly picked a yellow file.

"Seeing that you insist that this is some kind of test," the buffalo returned to the desk and extended his right paw to the bunny, offering the file, "I'll allow you to continue. _"_

Judy reached to take the folder, more out of instinct than choice. But, just before she could grab it, he retracted his arm. "But, if you fail this 'test', you'll have parking duty for a week,"

She nodded in acknowledgment

"… _In Tundratown," he added._

* * *

"That went well," the fox finally commented as they descended the stairs, "being the 'Savior of Zootopia' has its advantages."

What could have been the third jab of the last twenty-four hours -this time thrown as a friendly gesture from the bunny- was effortlessly avoided by Nick, as they reached the reception.

"And I haven't gotten my coffee yet," Judy responded, proud of her achievement and eager to resume the investigation her partner had started.

"I don't know if Zootopia is quite ready for a caffeinated Judy Hopps," he responded with friendly sarcasm.

A grin appeared in the rabbit's muzzle, a grin she tried to hide. She hated how painfully easy it was for Nick to make her laugh, even his unfunny jokes managed to get a small reaction from her.

Her partner interrupted her line of thought with a more serious tone. "Jokes aside, where are we going now, Carrots?"

" **Have we ever put jokes aside?"** She wondered as she contemplated her partner. They had stopped just behind the reception counter. The question wasn't where to go, but where they should go first.

A harsh burden returned to their shoulders, as the reality of working on a murder case slowly draw them back to the real world. The emotion; the wrapping feeling of victory had blinded her to many questions she should have answered long before entering Boggo's office.

" **Do I really want to be a detective?"**

When she was young the only thing she truly wished was to serve as a ZPD Officer. She prepared herself throughout her teen years; she endured all the dismissiveness of her classmates and family. She withstood the intensive training at the Academy and came out on top, she dealt with a condescending boss and a sly fox to solve the greatest mystery of the decade just to prove her worth, and yet she had not prepared for the most obvious and predictable thing, a simple promotion. An innocent and childish part of her had hoped everything would stay as it was for a bit longer.

"We'll pay a visit to the victims' parents first," she decided, keeping a calmed voice trying to hide her internal turmoil from her partner.

They had just passed the unoccupied reception desk when they heard a deep voice calling them from behind. They turned to see a gray wolf staring back at them, a professional and emotionless look on his face as he approached the duo.

"Chief told me you're going to investigate last night's unfortunate incident," the officer explained, with a stoic voice matching his expressions, "he also ordered me to get you two some proper armament."

The Armory Officer was named Canel Weregolf. Nick didn't know him, but Judy had heard a couple of stories about the disgraced detective. The stories varied wildly, from a use of excessive force to a cold-blooded murderer. Judy didn't believe for a second that chief Boggo would allow a criminal to stay in the ZPD, and she wasn't going to ask the grim looking wolf about his past.

The armory was a small place, compared to the station's size. It was a bleak room, with white walls and dim cold lights. That placed transmitted a sense of uneasiness to the bunny. She had never been there before.

"Wait here," the wolf calmly ordered to the pair as he unlocked the steel door with a set of rusted keys.

"That's a strange fellow," Nick said when Officer Weregolf entered the mysterious vault.

" **He is."**

They waited in silence until the gray wolf emerged from the armory with a black suitcase in each paw, one of them slightly bigger than the other. He walked up to them without letting a single word or expression out of his black muzzle. Canel gave Nick the larger suitcase, which Nick reluctantly took. After handing Nick's equipment Weregolf held up Judy's suitcase in front of them and opened it. Inside the case, there was a standard issue 9mm pawgun, alongside it there were three ammunition clips and a brown holster.

"The criminal who attacked you had military grade flashbangs," the wolf stated, "this should help you if you encounter him again."

She carefully took the gun from its container and held it in her paw for a moment. The gun was heavy in the rabbit's paws. She had practiced with firearms in the academy before. But, this time it felt different; it was different. This was real life, not an exercise and the gray wolf had made it quite clear; they were expected to use them.

" **It will take some time getting used to,"** she thought while she doubtfully took the holster and clipped it to her belt before holstering the gun.

* * *

They hadn't spoken since they left the armory, not a single word till they reached the reception. Her ears were resting on her head, amethyst eyes locked on the floor. Nick mind was clear, unlike his partner, or so he liked to think. He had taken the fifteen minutes it took to get to the station to consider what had happened last night. He was determined to find the murderer, as determined as he was when he entered the alleyway for the second time.

They stepped outside, the bright morning sun washing their fur with its warm light. They looked at each other, for the first time since they had gotten their new pawguns, before starting their path to the parking lot. His calm emerald eyes met the worried sight of her partner.

"We are really doing this, aren't we?" Judy asked, with the contemplative tone she always had when faced with profound doubt. For a moment Nick considered not responding her and just moving forward, to let his actions speak, however, he decided to give some certainty to his partner.

"Yes, Fluff, we are," he responded, trying to sound as neutral and objective as possible, "we must."

He took the sunglasses that had been in his front pocket since they entered Boggo's office and smoothly covered his green eyes with them before taking the first step down the stair. Judy quietly followed him.

"After we catch this murderer, I have something to show you," he added, an effervescent smile escaped the fox's muzzle after leaving his partner with the small tease.


End file.
